SECTION VI. — ALCHEMY. 102^

Porta, Johannes Baptista. [Cont'd.] Magiae naturalis qui extant libri sunt :
1. De mirabilium rerum, causis.
2. De variis animalibus gignendis.
3. De novis plantis producendis.
4. De augenda supellectili.
5. De metallorum transmutatione.
6. De gemmarum adulteriis.
7. De miraculis magnetis.
8. De portentosis medelis.
9. De mulierum cosmeticis.
10. De extrahendis rerum essentiis.
11. De myropoeia.
12. De incendiariis ignibus.
13. De raris ferri temperaturis.
14. De miro conviviorum apparatu.
15. De capiendis manu feris.
16. De invisibilibus literarum notis.
17. De catoptricis imaginibus.
18. De staticis experimentis.
19. De pneumaticis.
20. Chaos.
Natural Magick in twenty books, wherein are set forth all
the riches and delights of the natural sciences, with
engravings. London, 1658. Sm. folio.
John Baptist Porta, of Naples, was born in 1538 and died in 1615. The first
edition of this work, comprised in four books, was published in 1553
when the author was only 15 years of age. This first edition is said not
to be extant ; a much enlarged edition was published in 1589, which
was followed by many others. Porta's description of the Camera
obscura has led historians to attribute to him its invention, but it was
known nearly one hundred years earlier to Leonardo da Vinci. In the
first edition, as well as in that of 1562, the camera obscura is described
in an imperfect form, without the lens. The latter important addition
first appears in the issue of 1589. C/. Libri, Histor. math., iv.
POYSELIUS, Ul-RICHUS. See Aureum Vellus.
Practice (The) of Lights, or an excellent and ancient treatise of the Philosophers' Stone. See Collectanea chymica.
Pr£ceptes et instructions du pfeRE Abraham A son fils. See R[icheboui:g], J. M. D.
Processus pro tinctura auff den mercurium sous et lun/e. See Aureum Vellus.
Propositiones sive maxima in quibus Veritas totius artis che.viic^ comprehendi- TUR. See Artis auriferse ; also Theatrum chemicum.
1028 . BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHEMISTRY.
Pruggmayr, Martin Maximilian.
Scrutinium philosophicum de vero elixire vitae, seu genuine auro potabili philosophico, quo non solum omnes humani corporis morbi quon- dam sanabantur, verum et immunda ac leprosa corpora metallorum curabantur ; opus non minus utile quam necessarium omnibus artis Hermeticse filiis, in quo docetur, quid scire, quidque vitare debeat versus philosophise chemicae studiosus ; ubi quoque exacte potissima enucleantur, quae circa prseparationem auri potabilis philosophici neqessario sunt observanda, neque quidquam dictum reperitur, quin perspicue, succincte, ad oculum ex genuinis philoso- phorum adeptorum textibus comprobetur . . . Salisburgi, 1687. pp. (xvi)-i46 and Index, i2mo.
* Philosophische Untersuchung des wahrhaften Lebens- elixieres oder des echten philosophischen Trinkgoldes, wodurch ehemals nicht nur alle Krankheiten des menschlichen Leibes geheilet, sondern auch die un- reinen und aussatzigen Kcirper der Metallen zu ihrer voUkommenen Reinigkeit gebracht wurden. Aus dem lateinischen iibersetzt und mit Anmerkungen versehen ; mit einem hieroglyphischen Kupfer das ganze philo- sophische Werk vorstellend. Leipzig, bey Adam Friedrich Bohmen, 1790. pp. 312, i2mo. Plates. Contains a list of hermetic works that ought to be read by a student of alchemy (Kap. in). The subject is treated historically and with cus- tomary credulity.
PSEAUTIER (Le) d'Hermophile. See R[ichebourg], J. M. D,
* Pyrotechnic AL Discourses, being — i. An experimental confirmation
of chymical philosophy, treating of the several principles in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms ; with a perspective against chymical non-entities ; written by John Kunkel, Chymist to the Elector of Saxony. 2. A short discourse on the original of metallick veins ; by George Ernest Stahl which may serve as an answer to Dr. Woodward's theory of the earth and was a forerunner to : 3. The grounds of pyrotechnical metallurgy, and metallick essaying ; by John Christian Fritschius of Schwartzburg. All faithfully translated from the Latin and useful for all such as are any ways concern 'd in medicine or metals. London, printed and sold by B. Bragg in Avemary-Lane, 1705. pp. x-268, Svo.
* Quadratum Alchymisticum : Das ist : Vier auserlesene rare Tractat-
gen vom Stein der Weisen ; Speculum Sapientise, in welchem so- wol die Sonnenklahrheit von Jesu Christo, als auch die wahre